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Gray Team
'Gray '''is a color used for Endurance, and used for every season except ''Endurance: Fiji. They are notorious for being the first team eliminated four out of the five seasons they appeared in. Endurance ﻿Max DeLeo and Jenna Jimenez were the first Gray Team in Endurance History. Because they were the last two contestants to be in Fate Falls, they received two pieces: Heart and Trust. They looked like they were to be a strong team, as they threw Tilt as to not become a threat, and Blue sent them to the Temple of Fate to eliminate Green in Knotted Up, going in thinking it was a strength challenge. Little did they know, they were the first team eliminated after Green swept them, beginning the notorious Curse of the Gray Team. The next day, Max sent a note to Jonna, reading "give it to the next team you want to betray". Trivia *First team ever in Endurance History to be eliminated. *Only team in the first season to leave a note following their elimination (though, unlike later seasons, they couldn't choose which remaining team would get their pieces). *Max and Jenna returned as the Brown Team on Endurance 2 by a fan vote, where they won that season. Endurance 2 In Wash Out, Wayne and Maryelle caught the Gray ball, the last ball in play, thus forming the Gray Team. While Wayne was a little upset because he didn't get Jacquelynn as a partner, he was willing to work with Maryelle. In Tower of Power, Gray came close to the lead a couple of times, but ended up losing the mission. They were then sent up to the Temple of Fate by Green, alongside Orange. In the first round, Orange wins, picking water to Gray's fire, but Gray won the second round. In the tiebreaking third round, Gray lost, making them the second Gray Team on Endurance to be eliminated first. The next episode, they gave their Heart piece to the Purple Team. Their note though revealed they were part of an alliance, which did concern Purple as they taught it would accidently make them a target. Trivia * When this team was announced as one of the two teams going to the first temple, the curse was acknowledged as JD noted that Gray seemed destined to go first. After their elimination, Jenna (who was on gray the previous season) suggested it was bad luck for the lack success for the gray teams. Endurance 3: Hawaii Lindi Oest and Chris Vanderweir became the Gray Team when Lindi, who had the 2 ball, bumped Bryanah to get Chris. It was considered a notorious move, but Chris deceived Bryanah into pretending he wanted her for a partner, when he actually wanted Lindi. Lindi was friends with Nicole and Sarah, and together they joined in an alliance against Bryanah. Chris was friends with Reece. In Ring of Fire, Lindi stated that she and Chris would have each others' backs and help one another if they fell— ultimately, they came in 4th place during the mission, and also deemed Yellow the weakest team alongside their allies Purple, Orange and Red. However, they were the second team removed by Yellow in Bagging on You; both of them demanded along with Orange and Purple when Red got a bag on the target to eliminate Yellow, to no avail— Monroe and Bryanah ended up winning, causing a wave of fear over the alliance members. Lindi believed they would be sent with Orange, most likely as a result of her stealing Chris from Bryanah in the partner selection, but the latter's crush on her partner spared them, and Blue was sent instead (Monroe had hoped that they wouldn't be able to retaliate if Orange was knocked out, which didn't end well). The following day, they were chosen by Orange to go second in Squaring Off; them and their four-way alliance targeted Yellow, Green and Brown for elimination until Reece broke the cycle, albeit temporarily— Vanetta granted them control again, after being pressured by Nicole; the plot against the outsider teams went as intended, and it eventually came down to Gray and Orange. Shockingly, Gray tried to deflect any guilt from sending Green and Yellow (who gave them a free ride from Temple the previous episode) by eliminating themselves, automatically granting Orange the power over what later turned out to be a heartwrenching elimination for Green that night. They came in 3rd place during Out on a Limb; this strength displayed here earned them a spot on the powerhouse superteam configured by Yellow, upon which Purple would be joining as well (although Nicole tried to reach a peace treaty with Bryanah to keep the Orange-Gray alliance going). This effort by Monroe and Bryanah paid off, as they won Bamboo Jungle— despite their intentions of sending Orange back to Temple with Red, Chris, Lindi and Reece persuaded them to send Brown instead. The next day, they won their first mission independently in Pipeline, where they had two options from this rare but beneficial Samadhi— they could swap teammates or strip someone else of their pieces; they ultimately stole Yellow's pieces, tying them with the lead alongside Purple (which they justified by saying that Purple and Orange would award them their pieces if they were sent home, and Brown only had one piece). Later that night and the following morning, Nicole divulged her clandestine alliance with Brown and Yellow, resulting in Chris confronting Monroe about that— when Monroe refused to play along with his mind games, Chris made it clear that Yellow would be sent back to Temple if he won the Temple Mission; while Orange and Purple lead initially during I'm Pulling for You, Gray skyrocketed towards first place because both teams dropped some triangles, and eventually won. As predicted, Yellow was sidelined with the Samadhi; in Balance Ball, Tom's partner Vanetta was evacuated offscreen due to a bamboo stump injury, and he competed solo against the dominant alliance— he lost humiliatingly, as Purple edged out Gray for the victory. A misunderstanding by Lindi and Sarah where Demian said he'd send Purple and Gray in the final five resulted in further strife between him and Nicole; to add fuel to the fire, Bryanah stuck up for him when he hung around Yellow and Tom— the enraged Nicole, Lindi and Sarah continued their campaign against her by sending Yellow and Brown to Temple that night; Yellow survived the Temple a second time, which further disappointed the Orange-Gray-Purple alliance. In a quintessential victory, Yellow won Try Tri Again, and handicapped Gray with the Samadhi as payback— conversely during You're Fired, they caught the #3 ball, but Orange won by obtaining the number before that. By this point, Orange was aware that Gray and Purple were so close that both would have sent Orange with Yellow had either one won the mission instead. Thus, Orange sent Gray with their allies on Purple to Temple; Gray endured their first trip there, and proceeded to the final three. Prior to creating their own game, they got a tremendous lead with seven pieces, courtesy of the eliminated Purple team— this became insurmountable after their victory that same day; Gray gave the final Samadhi of E3 to Yellow, rather than discard it as done in the previous two seasons. They lead during the first half of Color Coded, but made a few mistakes that culminated in Orange winning a spot in the finals; they took their second visit to Temple, which was also Yellow's third (both believed that they both deserved to be in the final two, as Orange was still plagued by bickering)— Gray shut out Yellow in two rounds, sending them to the championship. They easily won Float Your Boat, raising their grand total of pieces to 10 against Orange's measly 2 pieces, and eventually became the Endurance champions after defeating Orange, supposedly breaking the Curse of the Gray Team. Chris had claimed that "friendship is a strategy" when asked by J.D. whether strategy or friendship was more important. This may have resulted in the thirteenth piece, the Friendship piece, being brought into the game in the next season though both members of Gray and Orange had been given a special friendship pyramid piece as a gift before heading to the finals. Following the competition, a special was produced to show footage from Chris and Lindi's grand prize trip. Trivia * Only Gray team not sent to the first temple of fate * Only Gray team to survive the temple of fate (they mentioned to do this twice) * Only Gray team to win any mission (not including the E1 partner selection) and compete in a superteam mission. * If they had not eliminated themselves in Squeeze Play, they would have tied with E1 Blue for most mission wins (6 including the superteam and final pieces mission). Endurance: Tehachapi Because of Chris taking control of partner selection, he chose John and Julie to be on the Gray Team. During the initial squabble amongst the teams to form alliance, Gray seemed to hang out mostly with Blue and Orange. They seemed to be strong early on, as they almost won Blocked. However, just after noting how close they were with Blue, as they received the Samadhi by Green even though Isaac promised John he wouldn't give it to them. They and Blue were furthered targeted in Raft Pull where the other teams ganged up on them. After Purple won, Gray got sent to Temple against Blue and were eventually eliminated. Thus marking the return of the Curse of the Gray. They left their commitment piece with Blue. Endurance: High Sierras Originally, Connor Finnegan and Darci Miller were the Gray Team. By the skin of their teeth, they managed to get on the Gray platform before Anna Asare and Garret Manno did. Connor cited he didn't want the color, because of the curse. They appeared to be a smart team, as they strategized of what they were going to do. Connor and Darci showed good teamwork in Hot Potato, but lost the mission. Later, when the team switch came, Connor was sent to the Blue Team, and Isaac took his place on the Gray Team. While Connor was hurt about being switched, he did cite one of the pros was that he now had "a better color". Neither Blue nor Gray knew about Dakota's plan to switch them both. In Move it Along, Ike and Darci were isolated by their fellow contestants, and Darci mentioned Gray needed to win the mission. They lost, and later on, were given the Samadhi by their former teammates on the Blue Team. In Walk the Plank, because they were given the Samadhi the previous night, Darci walked out 20 seconds before the other girls did. While it was a handicap, Ike held on for 47 minutes before letting go, losing the challenge. Later on, Gray knew they were going to be sent up to the Temple of Fate, along with Yellow. Meanwhile, Connor, Darci's former teammate, told Yellow her strategy for when they were going to Temple. At the Temple of Fate, Yellow used Darci's strategy against her, eliminating Gray first for the fourth time in five seasons. *Last appearance of the Gray Team. Endurance: Fiji There was no Gray Team on Endurance: Fiji. Many assumed that it was because of the Curse of the Gray Team; however, it was implied that it was because of financial troubles. There was a proposed twist in which the four eliminated contestants would come back, in which they would become the Gray and Brown Teams. However, this wasn't implemented. Trivia *Lowest average ranking team color: 6 *Fewest number of trips to the final four or higher: 1 (tied with Brown Team). **Since Brown only appeared in two seasons, they made it to the final four more frequently (50% vs 20% of the time). Therefore, the Gray team has the smallest presence in the final four or higher. *Fewest number of missions won: 3 (tied with Brown) ** In both cases, they were all in one season: ''Endurance: Hawaii''. *While this color was frequent in Endurance, it was never featured on Moolah Beach. ﻿ Category:Teams